The Jew News Review – January 13, 2024 – “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” – George Orwell

Shabbat shalom. 

It is a dreary, rainy day here in Sharon Massachusetts, and I am struggling this morning with feelings of rage, frustration, and a dreadful feeling about the future for Israel and diaspora Jews around the world. Iowans may be caucusing in a deep freeze on Monday, but Israelis are up against a shit storm perpetrated by South Africa, (apparently the legal arm of Hamas), that could have serious legal, political and diplomatic consequences, should the International Court of Justice at The Hague conclude that there is “plausibility” Israel’s conduct of the war against Hamas is an act of “genocide”. Of course it’s not true, but holy shit! Israeli’s are still in shock from October 7th and now have to deal with this bullshit while they defend themselves from real genocide and there are still over a hundred hostages being held by Hamas, the genocidal maniacs who state unequivocally and publicly that they intend to commit genocide against Israel? As you know I am no friend of Bibi, but he summed it up well stating, “A terrorist organization carried out the worst crime against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and now someone comes to defend it in the name of the Holocaust.” WTF? There has to be a profound and moral difference between a terrorist organization committing crimes against humanity and a country trying to prevent another massacre against its own people. There has to be a profound and moral difference between what is debatably a disproportionate response to those crimes against humanity and the “genocide intent” of the perpetrators. There has to be a profound and moral difference between a governing power that uses its own people as human shields and a country defending itself and making a few mistakes amongst the chaos and fog of war in distributing humanitarian aide! We have indeed entered Orwellian territory, that dystopian land where up is down, lies are truth, and Hamas are the good guys!

Let’s start with South Africa and their 84 page Application instituting proceedings in the name of the Republic of South Africa (“South Africa”) against the State of Israel (“Israel”). South Africa says, the war is “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group” which according to South Africa is a violation of the Genocide Convention, of which Israel is a signatory. I have read through the document, skimmed a lot of it, and the one major flaw that makes the whole thing stink in my humble opinion is the lack of any context or mention of the deliberate policy of Hamas to integrate themselves within civilian infrastructure. That is shameful.

To give you a little more context on the genocide claim by South Africa, here is a synopsis taken from Janet Yellin’s News Not Noise newsletter:

Lawyers for South Africa argued that genocidal intent is evident in “the way in which this military attack is being conducted.” For example:

• They argued that Israel plans to “destroy” Gaza. “It is becoming ever clearer that huge swaths of Gaza — entire towns, villages, refugee camps — are being wiped from the map,” one lawyer said. “The scale of destruction in Gaza, the targeting of family homes and civilians, the war being a war on children, all make clear that genocidal intent is both understood and has been put into practice. The articulated intent is the destruction of Palestinian life,” another lawyer said.
• They argued that the “blockade” on Gaza deprives civilians of access to shelter, food, clean water, hygiene products, and life-saving medical care.
• They cite the mass displacement of Palestinians, saying Israel’s order for the people of northern Gaza to evacuate on short notice “itself was genocidal.”
• And they allege that the war-fighting at Gaza hospitals shows that Israel is targeting the healthcare system, depriving pregnant women critical care, preventing Palestinian births. 

Lawyers for Israel argued the case is based on “profoundly distorted” claims and “if there were acts of genocide, they have been perpetrated against Israel.” They slammed South Africa as the “legal arm” of Hamas and the proceeding as “one of the greatest shows of hypocrisy in history.” 

• They claimed if Hamas were to surrender and release the 136 hostages, the military campaign would end which, they say, defeats the genocide argument. 
• They detailed Israel’s measures to prevent civilian deaths, including “invest[ing] massive resources to tell civilians where, when and how” to evacuate, helping to stand up field hospitals and providing humanitarian aid. They argued this proves the allegations “tendentious” and “baseless.”
• They argued that “in every single hospital that the IDF has searched in Gaza, it has found evidence of Hamas military use” and presented evidence in court. Israeli lawyers say the IDF used tactical operations inside hospitals rather than bombing them to minimize civilian casualties.
• They dismissed comments by Israeli extremists as “random” statements at odds with official policy. They said, “to determine the policy and intentions of the government of Israel it is necessary to examine the decisions of the security cabinet and the war cabinet,” and not the words of individual officials.
• The lawyers argued, “If claims of genocide were to become common currency of armed conflict wherever that occurred, the essence of that crime would be lost.”
• They further argued that Hamas displays “utter contempt for the law” by endangering civilians and Israelis. They said the “absurd upshot” of this case is that “under guise of genocide claims this court is trying to stop Israel [from] defending its civilians against an organization which pursues a genocidal agenda against them.”

Why this nation that brought us Apartheid is pursuing this Application is an interesting question. Yes, there are issues of proportionality, yes, several Israeli politicians and leaders have made stupid statements that sound genocidal or ethnic cleansy-ish. But I would certainly give any country some latitude in remarks made right after an invading band of psychopaths raped and pillaged hundreds of their citizens! Meanwhile, in South Africa, a Jewish player on the country’s cricket national team was just removed as captain because of his “pro-Israel” comments last year. But, sure South Africa, keep reminding us that “anti-Zionism is not antisemitism.” Bastards. 

This week’s Unholy podcast included an interview with Michael Walzer, who is a world renowned philosopher regarding morality and war. He literally wrote the book on Just and Unjust Wars, published in 1977 and motivated significantly by his personal involvement in protesting the Vietnam War. His take on the Israel and Hamas war? Not even close to genocide. He is critical however of Israel’s walking into the “asymmetric trap” laid by Hamas and mistakes that they made early on in announcing a “siege”. Except for those early calls for a siege, however, he thinks Israel has acted as morally as possible given the circumstances. Hamas, he states, designed a war that they knew would lead to disproportionate civilian deaths. In fact, the more civilian deaths the better for Hamas. The media, he believes, has failed to adequately contextualize the situation, and he warns that Israel will continue to lose the PR war if they don’t change tactics. One example he provides is that instead of showing videos of the October 7 horror, they should show the IDF in targeting meetings debating the moral, military, and legal implications of their targeting process. And they should be more discriminate in what they bomb. An example of this is that after the UN set up a tent city for the Palestinians, Hamas infiltrated the tents and fired rockets at Israel from them. Israel responded by bombing the tent city source of the rockets. Perhaps, Walzer says, they should have just ignored that one. An interesting listen, link below.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unholy-two-jews-on-the-news/id1548441108?i=1000641374256

Well, enough of this genocide craziness. Damn depressing topic. Here then is your weekly roundup of other news of the Jews from various sources of jewy journalism:

1. The latest in the war…
   • Israel defended itself today against claims of genocide in front of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Watch the proceedings here, and catch up on what happened in court Thursday.
   • The U.S. and its allies launched airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, in an expansion of the war in the Middle East.
   • Under pressure from the Biden administration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel has “no intention” of removing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
2. Some see the Chabad tunnel as part of a Messianic quest to build a Third Temple — not in Jerusalem but in Brooklyn: The brouhaha over a secret tunnel at Chabad headquarters this week highlighted a rift between those who believe the Lubavitcher Rebbe is the Messiah and those who don’t. Our Louis Keene, who has been covering the developing story all week, explains the genesis of the divide that is roiling the movement – and how the tunnel was possibly an inevitable outcome. Read the story ➤
3. ⛏️  Oy. This tunnel digging is hard work! The students who built the tunnel under the Chabad building started the process by digging a little and putting the dirt in their pockets, like the prisoners trying to escape in the Shawshank Redemption. When they realized the inefficiency of their plan, they allegedly hired migrant labor. (New York Post)
4. 🏠  Kanye West is facing an uphill battle selling his $53 million four-bedroom beachfront house. A contractor who says he’s owed more than $1 million has filed a lien on the property. West lost a reported $1.5 billion of his net worth when he was dropped from endorsement deals after going on an antisemitic tirade in 2022. (Hollywood Reporter)
5. 🇺🇸  Go Nikki go! The Iowa caucuses are Monday and Nikki Haley is hoping that she can pull off an unlikely win over Donald Trump. One thing the former South Carolina governor has in her corner: a growing number of major Jewish donors.(JTA)
6. Don’t forget the hostages – Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Western Wall Wednesday for a mass public prayer, calling for the safe return of the hostages. “I’m 69 so I don’t serve in the army but the call to this prayer is my draft order,” said attendee Emmanuel Ohaiun. “There is the war on the ground, and there is holy warfare that I came to fight.” A Hamas spokesperson said the hostages “will not be returned alive” unless Israeli forces leave Gaza.

That will do it this week. Let’s hope this Orwellian nightmare ends well. But until then, remember to stay safe out there!

Brad out.